Richard's birthday was this week and he requested I make white chicken chili, which I generally make quite spicy. But with a passel of children and their sensitive taste buds joining the revelry, I reduced the heat index by using only 1 serrano pepper and 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder, and I placed the jalapeno peppers and hot sauce on the side. You can always add heat, but removal is problematic (that bread trick has never worked for me).

I kept the chili warm in a crock pot, and served hot, chopped peppers, Cheddar cheese and cilantro on the side.

The fun thing about serving chili is mixing and matching the accoutrements. I served this batch with broken tortilla chips, chopped cilantro, cheddar cheese, hot chopped peppers and hot sauce on the side.

Speedy chilis such as this are often thin because they don't have the opportunity to thicken over a long, slow simmer. In this recipe, I mixed cornstarch into the stock and mashed up half of the white beans, which nipped that problem in the bud. I love adding beer to chili; the alcohol evaporated in the heat, yet the flavor remains. Substitute the beer with chicken stock, if desired.

Sour cream, diced avocado and cooked corn kernels would be a great addition, as well. If the chili didn't incorporate beer, I would have included lime wedges. Recipe can be easily doubled.